Full of life and love

I tucked each child in tonight before going to bed as I always do - but tonight I saw peace and beauty in my dear sweet girl, and calm strength in my dear sweet boy. We don't have the neatest home...we are basically a mess. We can sometimes be a loud house, with stress, anxiety, and life's pressures all around us. But one thing we have is love. Love for each other. Love and gratitude...for beautiful, kind-hearted children who are full of life, sweetness and tenderness; for good family and friends to nourish our hearts; good food to nourish our bodies; good music to nourish our minds; good faith to nourish our souls.

May I provide my children with a strong foundation from which to grow, a safe place to cultivate who they are, as well as to return when they need comfort, and a pleasant place that brings them happy memories in their future. May my children always stay full of the bold exuberance that makes them special people and brings smiles to others' faces wherever they go!

Little boy is learning every day

So it amazes me - he can count to 10 on his own. He knows the alphabet song - singing with specific letters (abc, p, v). He loves singing it the usual way, and the "Super Why" way that Alpha Pig sings in almost every episode. He really likes Super Why/Wyatt, and of course gets a kick out of Elmo and Curious George. But nothing compares to his love of music. I only hope I've managed to capture special moments to remember on video and photos. He knows the videos by site of the listing photo, and by name. And then sings along - that's getting clearer each day. He carries his Mickey song book that plays tunes - and he knows "Frer a Jacque". Will request "Row Row", "Happy and you know it" and "hokey pokey" - anything where you sing and dance is a big hit!
The other night he put his hands in his pj arms, and said "Two Hands". He's counting!
And he zips up his own pj's - and I of course make a big deal out of it. He's constantly amazing me! :)

"Night night...Octpeeus"

We love when the little ones are still young enough to not yet speak perfectly. It's a constant battle to teaching them or letting them linger a little while in the imperfection of speaking. For example, his little musical octopus with songs, and 'circle,' 'square,' 'triangle,' and 'star' is currently "Octpeeus". I love it!

Little by little words start as one thing and then form to the real word. We're so happy when they learn to say the word correctly, but I won't lie...I love the made up words. It doesn't last long. They're sponges - they're smart - they learn and form words quickly. At least my kids do...they're constantly around talking parents! So when he says "snack" and then quickly correctly says, "snap" as we dress him, he's thrilled as am I that he got the "p" sound. But I thought "snack" was cute.

My other recent favorite is "edemame" is "oh me oh my."

His "Hand Hand Finger Thumb" book is "tum tum".

His "Oh my, Oh my, Oh dinosaur" book is "Oh my Oh my book."

His "Go Dog, Go" book is "Go Go."

Katherine is "sis, sis" - and sometimes he says it with much VERVE! He loves to play with her - it's amazing how well they get along at 2 and 6. It warms my heart when I hear them running around together!